2023-10-04 04:00:00
Despite the millions invested by the Quebec government and the efforts made by business people to encourage the return of workers to the city center, office towers in the Montreal region continue to empty.
• Read also: [BALADO] It has been proven that teleworking is ecological
• Read also: Developments in real estate markets ‘confusing’, economist says
• Read also: How to recreate team spirit in the era of teleworking
According to the latest data from real estate agency CBRE, the vacancy rate for downtown towers reached a record 17.4% in the third quarter. This is an increase of 8% (or 1.3 percentage points) from 16.1% in the same quarter of 2022.
“We are not at the end of our troubles. There is still a lot of work to do,” recognizes Glen Castanheira, CEO of Montreal Centre-ville. “Obviously the ship is difficult to turn. We have not yet succeeded, but I feel that it is moving in the right direction,” reacted the CEO of the Chamber of Commerce of Metropolitan Montreal (CCMM), Michel Leblanc.
Outside the city center, in the Montreal suburbs, the situation is not better, on the contrary. In the third quarter, office spaces also showed an increasing vacancy rate, reaching 18.3% in the third quarter of 2023. At the same time last year, their vacancy rate was 17%.
Report of failure?
Since 2021, the Ministry of Economy and Innovation has granted $14.5 million to the CCMM to contribute to the economic recovery of downtown Montreal. From this envelope, some $3.5 million was granted to 14 artistic projects intended to bring new life to the city center.
Of these, the erection of a 30-meter steel ring on the Place Ville Marie esplanade was certainly the most notable work of the “I like working downtown” project. The Chamber will have contributed $500,000, while Quebec will have added $1.5 million to the bet.
Does the continued deterioration of the situation in offices constitute proof of the failure of the strategies put in place over the past two years to convince employers and employees to turn their backs on teleworking?
Not at all, maintains Michel Leblanc, for whom the work continues. “To conclude that it was a failure would be to assume that things would have been the same if we had decided to do nothing. On the contrary, I hope that despite the work that remains to convince more people of the benefits of returning to face-to-face work, it is a success. »
Ivanhoe Cambridge, National Bank of Canada and Desjardins have all required increased work attendance from their employees in recent months. Currently, estimates the CCMM, two-thirds of large companies in Montreal currently require an office presence of “two to three days per week”, on average.
Among the worst big cities
The situation is not unique to the metropolis. All major cities in America face the same challenge, argues Glen Castanheira. Downtown Calgary, he gives as an example, has a rate of 30.9%.
However, it is also fair to mention that while there are worse elsewhere, the vacancy rates in downtown Toronto (15.8%), Ottawa (14.2%) and Vancouver (11.8 %) are all much lower than those we see in Montreal (17.4%).
That said, David Cervantes, first vice-president of CBRE in Montreal, insists on the importance of qualifying these averages. According to the latter, category B and C buildings tend to considerably tarnish the overall picture. Taken in isolation, Montreal’s Category A buildings have a more enviable vacancy rate of 14.5%.
“We see that if companies generally tend to reserve spaces that are now more restricted, they also generally take advantage of this to move to better maintained buildings, of higher categories such as double A and triple A.
This is how, he gives as an example, Maison Manuvie, a popular tower, located on Maisonneuve West, in Montreal, currently has a vacancy rate of only 1.4%. A reality light years away from the average tower block in the city center.
Downtown Office Vacancy Rate (Third Quarter 2023)
Vancouver: 11.8% Calgary: 30.9% Toronto: 15.8% Ottawa: 14.2% Montreal: 17.4%
Source : CBRE
Do you have any information to share with us regarding this story?
Write to us at or call us directly at 1 800-63SCOOP.
1696404799
#Real #estate #office #presence #deteriorating #Montreal #region